Voices of Her Own, Winter 2022, Issue 5

voicesof her own

herdiscoverymagazine

The BEST afterschool program, where we are matched with amazing mentors, learn new life skills, eat delicious meals, make art, build things, transform our bedrooms, and go on adventures.

been someone who has truly helped me become who I am today: attentive, outgoing, and straight-forward. She is one of the kindest and most hardworking people I know. I am so thankful to have her in my life.

I wanted to come back to intern for SOHO because I gained so much insight from this program. I want to help young girls who feel alone in situations that are scary or hard to deal with, to let them feel they have a voice and know they are not alone. I also want to help make sure the girls have a great relationship with their mentor. I want the girls to have a fantastic SOHO experience, and to learn to bond with their mentors and to set boundaries to help them strengthen their relationships.

was the best thing that has ever happened to me. She guides me through my tough troubles and has always been there for me for each of my major life events. She has been a great support to me in school and life.

I have loved being in SOHO and attending SOHO Club events over the past few years. I’m glad that I have the opportunity to intern with SOHO. I hope this new group of SOHO girls will come to love their mentors and have a great time while they are in the program. I hope they keep their friendships with other mentees and that the relationships with their mentors are long lasting.

You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference. You just have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make. - Jane Goodall

EDITORS Brianna, Intern Odalis, Intern MENTEE

1stYear Fifth Graders Alison Aubrey Emely O. Genesis Heidy Jenesis Kareemah Ola Thiara Tomashia SOHO Club Girls & Mentors Armarni & Marietta Ashley & Cynthia Brianna & Maggie Chajurnee, LaShawn & Lisa Jeanela & Candice Jennifer & Marion Ki’ya and Debra Marina & Katrina Odalis & Lisette Wendy & Jessica

Jess, Mentor Bessy, Madeline & Linda, Staff Renee H., Mentor Sarah G., Mentor

NEW 5TH GRADE GIRLS & MENTORS

I am excited to get to know you and watch you grow and connect with each other throughout your years with SOHO.

At SOHO, you will be able to find and explore your sparks: interests and passions that get you excited and give you energy. You will develop relationships with caring adult volunteer mentors, create unique works of art, and learn to use power tools and technology to build things. You will try delicious and nutritious foods, make new friends, help others, and explore the outdoors. You’ll be invited to help plan adventures, projects, and fun events for your family to attend. And this spring, everyone on your team will help transform your bedroom or sleeping area with projects you create at SOHO. After your first year with SOHO, you and your mentor will be invited to join the SOHO Club for middle schoolers, where the fun will continue.

As a SOHO mentee, your confidence will grow and you will see how much your community cares about each of you. Over the past 20 years, countless people and organizations have contributed to SOHO, making our programs better and stronger each year. We are now 452 girls and 456 mentors strong, with many community partners who donate their time and resources to invest in you and your future.

As you explore your sparks, and develop new ones, imagine if you stick with something for 20 years, how strong you may become an the impact you might have. Your mentor and SOHO community of supporters are here to support and help guide you through your journey.

I hope you enjoy!

Linda Linda Odell, SOHO’s Founder & Director

Welcome to SOHO Alexandria’s 26 new 5th-grade girls!

Photo credit: Sarah Glickstein

Space of Her Own Board Members from left to right: Maggie Wigness, Faith Boettger,Andrea Denny, Courtney Dixon, Cynthia Chin, Linda Odell, Renuka Bhaskar, and Shannon Catlett

Every seat was filled at Building Momentum and a delicious brunch was provided by Executive Diner.

SOHO’sArmarni (above) and Jenny (below) entertained the crowd as they shared their experiences and presented awards.

”Never be afraid of trying new things…because you might just miss out!!! Warm up the crowd by putting a smile in their heart.” -Armarni

Photo credit: Sarah Glickstein

Awards for 20-Year Investments in SOHO’s Girls

The City ofAlexandra Founding Partner Award

TheArt League Founding Partner Award

Cynthia Chin Creative Genius Award

Pictured: LisetteTorres, Kate Garvey, &

Pictured: Charlene Haskell, Keeley Ray Prestwich, Suzanne Bethel, Patrick Kirwin, & Kathi Cohen

Mason Hirst Foundation Inspiring ChangeAward

Pictured:Tom & Magaly Hirst Magaly Hirst, & BrandiYee

ACTforAlexandria Capacity Building Award

Photo credit: Sarah Glickstein

Celebrating Our Strengths & Talents

We identified and celebrated our unique strengths and talents by playing SOHO Mentee Bingo during one of our first life skills class. We shared things we have in common and things that are unique to us. Check out our completed Bingo card below!

Niayesh is good at math

Maddy always works hard

Stephanie likes to join in activities

Darlene speaks more than one language

Genesis tells great stories and jokes

Aubrey knows how to swim

Tomashia can play a musical instrument

Thiara likes to make charts and graphs

Joy likes to figure out how things work

Alison is a good cook

Darlyn keeps a personal journal/diary

Zyia is a good speller

Kareemah can organize anything

Aniya can write computer code

Alejandra plays a team sport Arianna likes to read

SOHO MENTEE BINGO

Ruth has a good memory

Emily likes to write Jenesis likes to be in plays

Ola likes to design posters and murals

Alicia is a good artist

Nadia is good at building or making things

Danna likes to help others

Emely is a good dancer

Sparks!

“My spark is theater. It feels great to act. I have been in 6 plays and I have a

“My spark is reading. When I read, I feel like I can step into the character’s shoes.”

- Jenesis

My spark is animals. I want to help them, especially

“My spark is entrepreneurship.My great grandma had a bakery. I want to open a bakery that is low-cost to help the homeless. I want to help people, especially people without homes or food to

- Genesis

strays.”

-Aubrey

“My spark is entrepreneurship. I plan to start my own fashion company.”

- Kareemah

Sparks are our interests, passions, and desires that get us excited about life. In our first life skills lesson of the year, we identified our sparks that we hope to build on for years to come.

Cupcakes

At Charles Houston Rec Center, we learned about owning a small business, named our dream bakery businesses, practiced our baking and cupcake decorating skills, and had fun :)

Thank youTina Roman, owner of Caked byTina, for our sweetest life skill lesson of the year!

“I felt excited and kind of scared to weld. I was afraid I would mess up, but overall I was very excited. I started off going fast but then I went slower and slower until it was perfect. I kept trying and trying. I feel accomplished and over my fear of doing something wrong.”

- Ola

“My favorite part of welding was the sparks because of how they allowed me to go slower when I felt pressured to go faster. I also enjoyed how my mentor helped guide me when it came to drawing lines and shapes.”

- Emely

“Again, again! I really love welding!” -Aubrey

Hiking the Billy GoatTrail at Great Falls with Wilderness KidsAlexandria

“

We climbed a big rock wall with lots of rocks. My feet hurt by the end but the waterfalls were so pretty and I feel accomplished!”

-Alison

We took on one of the hardest obstacles on the trail: the rock wall. Girls and mentors encouraged each other along the way and clapped and cheered for everyone as they reached the top!

“My peak was seeing everyone be so brave!”

-Thiara

“I had a ton of fun bowling with SOHO! It was wonderful to connect with the girls and mentors. We bowled, we laughed, and we ate really good pizza. It was amazing to see everyone get better with every game and we even got to play some arcade games after. 10 out of 10!”

- Mentor Jess

The SOHO Club is for girls and mentors to continue to connect, learn and grow together beyond the first year program for 5th graders. “During an afternoon at Alexandria’s Chinquapin Park, we played games and kickball, and had great food. It was good to see everyone run around and have fun!” - Heidy

“I enjoyed sharing my love of kickball with Nyla and the other SOHO Club girls. It was amazing to see them progress from having no idea how to play to knocking it out of the park! Nyla loved seeing girls from her own program year as well as girls from previous years. SOHO is building a wonderful lifelong community.”

- Mentor Sarah

SOHO Club for 6th - 9th Graders

SOHO Spotlight: We are Philanthropists!

What is a philanthropist? Someone who takes action to make life better for others by sharing their time, talent, or money.

Thanks to The Giving Square’s Kids for Kids Fund, we are now philanthropists and have learned many ways to have a positive impact on our community.

The classes were fun and taught us about the needs of others in our community and about caring solutions to these needs. We learned about many programs that provide services that help others.

This October, after a careful selection process and lots of debate, a few SOHO

were excited to represent the 2021-2022 SOHO group and make a big $1,000 donation to the Northern Virginia Family Service (NVFS). NVFS was chosen because they provide a wide variety of resources and services to individuals and families in our community, including early childhood development, housing, immigration legal services, mental health, and foster care and adoption.

Club 6th graders

Pictured from left to right: Amy Neugebauer (The Giving Square),Adaliz,Armarni,Adriana, Emiley, Brooklynn, Kathleen McMahon (Northern Virginia Family Service)

Pictured from left to right: Nyla, Khloe,Armarni,Ashley & Sarah

“Being a philanthropist taught me that I can help other people.” -

Heidy

Upcoming SOHO Events

★ Mentor/Mentee Match Nights for 5th Grade Programs December 13 & 14

★ SOHO Club - Gingerbread Houses December 14, 6-8 p.m.

★ No SOHO - Happy Holidays! December 22, 23, 29 & 30

★ City Council CelebratesAlexandria Mentoring Month January 10 Girls and mentors, please wear a SOHO shirt and arrive to City Hall by 6:30. Dinner will be served prior to the City Council meeting. Prepare to say something you like about having a mentor/being a mentor. We’ll be onTV!

★ Ceramics @ TheArt League January 10 & 11 for 5th graders

★ Laser Cut Lamps @ Building Momentum January 17 & 18 for 5th graders

★ Mentor Recruitment Event @ The Lyceum January 24 from 5-8 p.m.

★ Screen Printing January 31 & February 1 for 5th graders

★ Ice Skating Party for all SOHO girls and mentors in February (DateTBD)

★ Mentor Training February 7 & 8 (LocationTBD)

★ Make Laser-engraved Keepsake Boxes with Fingerprint-activated Locks @ Building Momentum February 14, 15, 21, 22, 28 & March 1 for 5th graders

Do you have an event idea? Contact Bessy and Maddie! bessy.chavarria@spaceofherown.org/madeline.nance@spaceofherown.org

SOHO Shout Outs!

★ Amy Neugebauer & The Giving Square for helping us become philanthropists

★ BowlAmerica Shirley for hosting an unforgettable bowling night

★ Building Momentum for the incredible STEM classes, for donating space for our Thanks a Brunch and for the free welding class afterward

★ Caked byTina for the fun baking class

★ Executive Diner for delicious, discounted nutritious meals with incredible service, and for catering ourThanks a Brunch

★ JohnnyAlexander & team for providing safe transportation on field trips

★ Principal Crews for connecting us with our Cora Kelly 5th grade girls & families

★ Ms. Diaz for connecting us with our Jefferson Houston girls & families

★ Ms. Golden for connecting us with our Patrick Henry girls & families

★ Ms. Lee for connecting us with our Polk girls & families

★ Sarah Glickstein for photographing our 20-year celebratory brunch

★ Sarah Glickstein & Jones Lang LaSalle for helping us make beautiful lap desks

★ Wegmans for the delicious meals and free delivery

★ Wilderness KidsAlexandria for guiding us during our hike at Great Falls

For more SOHO information visit spaceofherown.org

Or Find Us On

SOHO’s original location was in a huge warehouse on the corner of Duke and Union Streets in Old Town,Alexandria. This site now hosts fancy Hotel Indigo.

Space of Her Own 520 King Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314

Space of Her Own 520 King Street, Suite 100,Alexandria, VA22314